Saturday, 7 April 2012

It
appears that we now find ourselves in the middle of a Sherlock Holmes revival
with two recent Hollywood ‘blockbusters’, an acclaimed television series and most interestingly,
Anthony Horovitz’s novel ‘The House of Silk’. Undeniably, these and many others
have taken liberties over the years with Doyle’s original but they certainly endure,
entertain and can still pull in an audience.

This
current adaptation of Conan Doyle’s 1901 novel The Hound of the Baskervilles by
Clive Francis turns out to be remarkably faithful to the original to the extent
of omitting Holmes for much of the narrative. Don’t forget that Holmes had been
dramatically ‘killed’ in 1893’s The Final Problem as a result of Conan Doyle’s
personal displeasure so may explain his absence in this tale.

So
we see very little of Gwynfor Jones’ sullen Holmes but a lot more of Doctor
Watson. It however shows a flaw in the writing/acting as Watson comes across in
this relationship, not as an exasperated friend and emotional prop to Holmes
but more as a servant at his disposal. In the original stories, this was never
the case. Moreover, while we are at it – please ditch Holmes in a deerstalker –
it never happened.

As
the reliable narrator, Leigh Symonds’ Doctor Watson takes centre stage, aided
by Amy Embank, Steven O’Neill and Robert Simpson, and drives the plot against the
rather stunning effects of film and projection. Conceived by Theatre Company
IMITATING THE DOG these visuals however, ‘stunning’ could so easily be an example
of ‘form over content’.

However
it’s good to say that this twenty-first equivalent of ‘smoke and mirrors’ did
not entirely overpower the five actors. Moving
smoothly and with conviction between IMD’s interior and exterior worlds of smoggy
London, 221b Baker Street, Baskerville Hall and, most eerily, ‘Grimpen Mire’ they
attempted to realise Director Kevin
Shaw’s aim of combining ‘the power of live performance’ and ‘revolutionary
theatrical techniques’.

Whether
it fully achieved this aim is debatable. However, it is early days on the tour
and I believe the odd inconsistency will dissolve away and the actors and the
narrative flow will become greater than the technical wizardry that often dominated
this performance.

An edited version appeared in The Newbury Weekly News, April 5th 2012.